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WE LOVE OUR COWS LIKE WE LOVE OUR CHEESES

Our cows are Holstein Friesians from the Netherlands. Like many other tourists, they came to Minorca some time ago and w ound up staying on the island for good. They now live on our farm in a peaceful atmosphere surrounded by nature and with all the indulgences we can offer. We provide them with full room and board: They eat and drink whenever they want, and they have comfortable beds to sleep in.

At Subaida we know that if our cows are happy, the milk they give us will be top quality. And that milk is delicious, with an ideal mix* of fat and protein that gives our cheeses such a unique flavor.

*Our benchmarks are approximately 3.3% fat and 3.2% protein

WE ARE ARTISANS OF CHEESE

Expert hands, top-quality raw materials, and three generations of craftsmanship: These are the ingredients we put in our cheeses. Below is the process step-by-step.

1-

First a cow volunteers to be milked.

2-

We fill a special cask with the freshl y drawn milk and k eep it at the same temperature as the cow’s udder. Then coagulation begins. Coagulation, or curdling, involves nothing more than adding rennet to the milk and bringing it to a temperature of between 32 and 33 degrees. As the milk is curdling, we stir and break it into pieces the size of chickpeas.

3-

When the curdled milk has formed into a paste, the master craftsman uses cheesecloth, a gauzelike fabric, to separate out the desired quantities. We add our farm’s identification number and the week and year of pr oduction. With an expert technique, the four corners of the cloth are joined together with the folds sharpl y creased. The cheese is then gentl y placed on a table where the whey is free to drip out. Using a string of cord, we roll the corners of the cheesecloth up and press down on the cheese to squeeze out the whey.

When the cheese has been thoroughly tied and squeezed, we place it in a mechanical press to continue removing the whey . This process lasts from 2 to 8 hours.

4-

After that, we remove the fabric from the cheese. We can see the indentation of the cord left behind from the mechanical press. We now soak the cheese in brine for 24 to 48 hours. The exact proportions of salt and water have been handed down from generation to generation in our family.

5-

Our master craftsmen determine when the cheese is ready for aging and drying. That process begins in a ventilated chamber where the cheese is exposed to fresh air and surface molds can develop. The cheese is then stored in an aging cellar, where it remains for a predetermined amount of time according to its variety.